Look up hart in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Hart may refer to:

• HART (disambiguation), an abbreviation/acronym
• Hart's Rules, a non-fiction book
• Another spelling of Heorot, the Anglo-Saxon mead hall
• Hart-Rouge, Canadian band
• The Hartt School
• Deer:
  • Hart (deer)
  • Adult deer
  • Red deer

Places[link]

Austria[link]

• Hart, Austria

United Kingdom[link]

• Hart, County Durham, England
• Hart (district), Hampshire, England

United States[link]

• Hart, California
• Hart, Michigan
• Hart, Texas
• Hart County (disambiguation)
• Hart Island (disambiguation)
• Hart Township (disambiguation)

People[link]

• Hart (person), sorted chronologically
• Hart (surname), sorted alphabetically
• Hart (given name)
• Hart wrestling family, a family of Canadian professional wrestlers, plus some American and British wrestlers related by marriage
  • The Hart Foundation, a number of tag teams or stables, most of them featuring second-generation members of the above family
  • The Hart Dynasty, a late-2000s WWE stable that included two third-generation members of this family

Music[link]

• Hart (album)

Fictional characters[link]

• Kendall Hart, on the soap opera All My Children
• Kimberly Hart, in the Power Rangers universe
• Captain John Hart, character on Torchwood
• The Hart Family, central characters on Reba (TV series)

[edit] Nine to Five

• Franklin Hart, Jr
• Missy Hart

Institutions[link]

• Brian Hart Ltd., a former Formula One engine manufacturer
• Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer
• Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores
• Harts Stores, a defunct American chain of department stores
• Hart's Reptile World, a zoo in Oregon
• Hart (literary organization), a Ukrainian literary organization of the early 1900s

Weapons systems[link]

• Hawker Hart, a Royal Air Force biplane light-bomber
• USS Hart, US Navy ships

Titled expressive works[link]

• Hart's Hope, a novel

Moving image works[link]

• Take Hart, a television show
• Hart to Hart, a television series
• Hart's War, a film

See also[link]

• Heart (disambiguation)
• Harts (disambiguation)
• Harte (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for music. Please help to establish notability by adding reliable, secondary sources about the topic. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. (December 2011)

Robert Williams (born May 6, 1987), better known by his stage name Meek Mill, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was briefly signed to T.I.'s label Grand Hustle Records and in February 2011 signed to Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group. In March 2011, Mill was included in XXL's "Freshman Class of 2011".^[1]

In 2011, he released his debut single, "Tupac Back", featuring Rick Ross, from his label's compilation album Self Made Vol. 1. That same year he released another single from the album, "Ima Boss", also featuring Ross. The song was later remixed, featuring T.I., Birdman, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled Swizz Beatz and Ross. The remix charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #51. "Ima Boss" is so far Meek Mill's most successful song, peaking at #20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

In February 2012, MTV listed Meek Mill as the #7 hottest MC in their annual "Hottest MCs in the Game" list.^[2]

On May 7, 2012, Mill released the second fresh installment in his Dreamchasers series. The mixtape features guest appearances from Drake, Jeremih, Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz and more.^[3] Mill has stated his favorite tracks off the tape are "Amen," "A1 Everything" and "Racked Up Shawty" with French Montana and Fabolous.^[4] On May 10, it was announced Meek Mill signed to Roc Nation management.^[4]

Discography[link]

Collaborative albums[link]

Mixtapes[link]

• BloodHoundz – Grimey, Thirsty, Starving, Hungry (2005) (with Mel Love, Dat NIG*A LiL & Young Pooh) +
• BloodHoundz – Blood in Blood Out (2005) (with Mel Love, Dat NIG*A LiL & Young Pooh)
• The Real Me (2007)
• The Real Me 2 (2008) (Hosted by DJ Difference)
• Flamers (2008) (Hosted by DJ Difference)
• Flamers 2: Hottest In The City (2009) (Hosted by DJ Difference)
• Flamers 2.5: The Preview (2009) (Hosted by DJ Cosmic Kev)
• Flamers 3: The Wait Is Over (2010) (Hosted by DJ Drama)
• Mr.Philadelphia (2010) (Hosted by DJ Ill Will & DJ Rockstar)
• Dreamchasers (2011) (Hosted by DJ Drama)
• Dreamchasers 2 (2012) (Hosted by DJ Drama)
• Same Dream (2012) (with Ace Hood)

Singles[link]

As lead artist[link]

As featured artist[link]

Other charted songs[link]

Guest appearances[link]

References[link]

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (December 2007)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2010)

Beth Hart
Beth Hart in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Beth Hart
Born	(1972-01-24) January 24, 1972 (age 40)
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Blues rock, jazz fusion, soul, storyteller
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, musician, painter
Instruments	Vocals, piano,guitar,bass,cello, percussion
Labels	143 Records Lava Records Atlantic Records, Koch records mascot records
Website	BethHart.com

Beth Hart (born January 24, 1972) is an American singer who became famous with the hit "LA Song (Out of This Town)", which aired during Episode 17 of the 10th and final season of Beverly Hills, 90210.^[1]

Her musical influences include rock, blues, gospel, jazz, and classical.

Musical career[link]

While playing the Los Angeles clubs, she enlisted bassist Tal Herzberg and guitarist Jimmy Khoury. In 1993, Hart appeared on Ed McMahon's Star Search several times.

"Beth Hart and the Ocean of Souls" was recorded in 1993. It includes "Am I the One" (re-worked on later album Immortal (1996)) and a pop-rock cover of the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."

Hart released her album Immortal with her band Beth Hart Band in 1996.^[2]

Her next album, Screamin' for My Supper (Atlantic, 1999), featured "LA Song (Out of This Town)," a top-5 Adult Contemporary Chart hit. At the same time, Hart was singing the lead role in "Love, Janis," an Off-Broadway musical based on Joplin's letters home to her mother.

Hart's Leave the Light On was released in 2003. European releases of the album include extras such as the ballad "Learning to Live" and a duet with Barry Hay, "I Don't Want to Be."

Hart released "Live at Paradiso" in 2005. The DVD version includes a bonus documentary covering "a day in the life" of Hart. She has also recorded with Born ("It Hurts"), Les Paul and Neal Schon ("I Wanna Know You"), and released a number of music video singles not available on CD, including "Shine," "Boogeyman," and "Setting Me Free."

Beth Hart's album 37 Days was released in Europe July 2007.

Hart did a song with Slash called "Mother Maria." That song is on the iTunes version of Slash's solo album, Slash.

Beth Hart is married and currently resides in Los Angeles. Her band includes lead guitarist Jon Nichols, bassist Tom Lilly, and drummer Todd Wolf. Her manager is David Wolff.

Beth's new single was released in May 2010, the track, "Learning to Live," is from an upcoming album of the same name and will be used as the theme song to "Losing It with Jillian" on NBC. this album marks Beth's first new American studio release since 2003.

In 2011 she worked with Joe Bonamassa, first providing vocals for the track "No Love On The Street" on his album Dust Bowl (March 2011). They also worked on an entire album of blues classics together, entitled Don't Explain(released on September 27, 2011).

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Beth Hart and the Ocean of Souls (1993, CD re-issued in 2009)
• Immortal (1996)
• Screamin' for My Supper (1999)
• Leave the Light On (2003)
• Live at Paradiso (2005, also available on DVD with documentary and extra songs)
• 37 Days (2007, also available on European-released 37 Days Live DVD with brief, b&w intros between numbers)
• My California (2010)
• Don't Explain (2011, with Joe Bonamassa)^[3]

Singles[link]

• "Run" (1996)
• "Immortal" (1996)
• "Summer Is Gone" (1996)
• "God Bless You" (1996)
• "Am I The One" (1996)
• "LA Song (Out of This Town)" (1999)
• "Delicious Surprise" (2000)
• "Leave The Light On" (2003)
• "World Without You" (2004)
• "Learning To Live" (2004) (Denmark single)
• "Hiding Under Water" (2005) (European Single)
• "Good As It Gets" (2007) (European Single)
• "Over You" (2007)
• "Like You (And Everyone Else)" 2010 (Scandinavia)
• "Learning To Live" 2010 (USA)
• "Life Is Calling" 2010 (Europe)
• "Love Is The Hardest" 2010 (Scandinavia)
• " Chocalate Jesus" 2011 (Europe)
• " I'll take care of you" 2011 (Europe)
• " Sister heroin" 2012 (England)
• " Take it easy on me" (England)

Other Collaborations[link]

• Provided backing vocals for "Haunted" on Deep Purple's 2003 album Bananas. Notably the first time singer Ian Gillan was backed by vocals other than his own.
• "I Wanna Know You" with Les Paul and Neal Schon, on the 2005 album American Made World Played by Les Paul & Friends^[4]
• "I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues" on the 2006 Toots Thielemans album One More For The Road.^[5]
• "It Hurts" (2007) duet with Born (Dutch musician), available on the re-release of his debut album At the end of the day^[6]
• "Mother Maria" (2010) duet with Slash, on the Download to Donate for Haiti project album.
• "No Love On The Street" (2011) performing vocals for Joe Bonamassa, on the album Dust Bowl (2011).^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Beth Hart’s official web site
• Review of My California

Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck at the Palais, Melbourne, Australia 26 January 2009
Background information
Birth name	Geoffrey Arnold Beck
Also known as	A.N. Other
Born	(1944-06-24) 24 June 1944 (age 68) Wallington, Surrey England, United Kingdom
Genres	Blues rock, jazz fusion, instrumental rock, hard rock, electronica, progressive rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, actor
Instruments	Guitar, bass, backing vocals, contrabass
Years active	1964-present
Labels	EMI, Epic
Associated acts	The Yardbirds, The Jeff Beck Group, The Honeydrippers, Beck, Bogert & Appice, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Big Town Playboys, Upp, Eric Clapton, Suzi Quatro, Duff McKagan, Tal Wilkenfeld
Website	www.jeffbeck.com
Notable instruments
Fender Jeff Beck Signature Model Stratocaster Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood

Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds (Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page are the other two). Beck also formed The Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice.

Much of Beck's recorded output has been instrumental, with a focus on innovative sound and his releases have spanned genres ranging from blues-rock, heavy metal, jazz fusion and an additional blend of guitar-rock and electronica. Although he recorded two hit albums (in 1975 and 1976) as a solo act, Beck has not established or maintained the sustained commercial success of many of his contemporaries and bandmates.^[1][2] Beck appears on albums by Mick Jagger, Kate Bush, Roger Waters, Donovan, Stevie Wonder, Les Paul, Zucchero, Cyndi Lauper, Brian May and ZZ Top. In 1988, he made a cameo appearance in the movie Twins.

He was ranked 5th in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"^[3] and the magazine has described him as "one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock".^[4] MSNBC has called him a "guitarist's guitarist".^[1] Beck has earned wide critical praise and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance six times and Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance once. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: as a member of The Yardbirds (1992) and as a solo artist (2009).^[5]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Beck was born in 1944 to Arnold and Ethel Beck at 206 Demesne Road, Wallington, England. As a ten year old Beck sang in a church choir. As a teenager he learned to play a borrowed guitar and made several attempts to build his own instrument, first by gluing and bolting together cigar boxes for the body and an unsanded fence-post for the neck with model aircraft control-lines and frets simply painted on. When fabricating a neck for his next try he attempted to use measurements for a bass guitar.

Beck has cited Les Paul as the first electric guitar player who impressed him.^[6] Beck has said that he first heard an electric guitar when he was six years old and heard Paul playing "How High the Moon" on the radio. He asked his mother what it was and after she replied it was an electric guitar and was all tricks, he said, "That's for me".^[7] Cliff Gallup, lead guitarist with Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps was also an early musical influence, followed by B.B. King and Steve Cropper.^[8]

Upon leaving school he attended Wimbledon College of Art, after which he was briefly employed as a painter and decorator, a groundsman on a golf course and a car paint-sprayer. Beck's sister Annetta introduced him to Jimmy Page when both were teenagers.

Early career[link]

Beck began his career in the 1960s. He joined The Rumbles, a Croydon band, in 1963 for a short period as lead guitarist, playing Gene Vincent and Buddy Holly songs, displaying a talent for mimicking guitar styles. His first appearance on vinyl was as a session guitarist on a 1964 Parlophone single by The Fitz and Startz entitled "I'm Not Running Away", with B-side "So Sweet".

In March 1965, Beck was recruited by The Yardbirds to replace Eric Clapton on the recommendation of fellow session man Jimmy Page, who had been their initial choice.^[9] The Yardbirds recorded most of their Top 40 hit songs during Beck's short but significant 20-month tenure with the band allowing him only one full album which became known as Roger the Engineer (titled Over Under Sideways Down in the U.S.), released in 1966. Beck was actually pictured on the cover of For Your Love which was released by the Yardbirds' American label in June 1965, however Clapton played guitar on most of the songs. From September to November 1966, Beck shared lead guitar duties with Page in the Yardbirds, who initially joined as bass player^[9] in June of that year. A clip of this iteration of the band can be seen in the 1966 British film Blow Up.

Beck with the Jeff Beck Group, 1968

Beck was fired in the middle of a US tour for being a consistent no-show -- as well as difficulties caused by his perfectionism and explosive temper.^[10] After leaving the Yardbirds, Beck recorded the one-off "Beck's Bolero" (with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Nicky Hopkins and Keith Moon) and two solo hit singles in the UK, "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and "Tallyman". He then formed The Jeff Beck Group, which featured Rod Stewart on vocals, Ronnie Wood on bass, Nicky Hopkins on piano and, after a series of drummers, eventually Micky Waller in early 1967.

The group produced two albums for Columbia Records (Epic in the US): Truth (August 1968) and Beck-Ola (July 1969). Truth, released five months before the first Led Zeppelin album, features "You Shook Me", a song written and first recorded by Willie Dixon that was also covered on the Led Zeppelin debut. It sold well (reaching number 15 on the Billboard charts). Beck-Ola saw drummer Micky Waller replaced by Tony Newman, and, while well-received, was less successful both commercially and critically. Resentment, coupled with touring incidents, led the group to dissolve in July 1969.

Nick Mason recalls in his autobiography that during 1967 Pink Floyd had wanted to recruit Beck to be their guitarist after the departure of Syd Barrett^[11] but "None of us had the nerve to ask him".^[12] In 1969, following the death of Brian Jones, Beck was approached about joining the Rolling Stones.^[10]

After the break-up of his group, Beck took part in the Music from Free Creek "super session" project, billed as "A.N. Other" and contributed lead guitar on four songs, including one co-written by him. Next he teamed with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, the rhythm section of Vanilla Fudge, in September 1969, when Bogert and Appice came to England to resolve contractual issues, but when Beck fractured his skull in a car accident near Maidstone in December the plan was postponed for two-and-a-half years, during which time Bogert and Appice formed Cactus. Beck later remarked on the 1960s period of his life: "Everyone thinks of the 1960s as something they really weren't. It was the frustration period of my life. The electronic equipment just wasn't up to the sounds I had in my head."^[13]

In 1970, when Beck had regained his health, he set about forming a band with drummer Cozy Powell. Beck, Powell and producer Mickie Most flew to the US and recorded several tracks at Motown's famed Studio A in Hitsville U.S.A. with The Funk Brothers, Motown's in-house band, but the results remained unreleased. By April 1971 Beck had completed the line-up of this new group with guitarist/vocalist Bobby Tench, keyboard player Max Middleton and bassist Clive Chaman. The new band performed as the "Jeff Beck Group" but had a substantially different sound from the first line-up. Rough and Ready (October 1971), the first album they recorded, on which Beck wrote or co-wrote six of the album's seven tracks (the exception being written by Middleton), included elements of soul, rhythm-and-blues and jazz, foreshadowing the direction Beck's music would take later in the decade.

Beck playing in 1973

A second album Jeff Beck Group (July 1972) was recorded at TMI studios in Memphis, Tennessee with the same personnel.^[14] Beck employed Steve Cropper as producer^[15] and the album displayed a strong soul influence, five of the nine tracks being covers of songs by American artists. One, "I Got To Have A Song", was the first of four Stevie Wonder compositions covered by Beck. Shortly after the release of the Jeff Beck Group album the band was dissolved and Beck's management put out the statement that: "The fusion of the musical styles of the various members has been successful within the terms of individual musicians, but they didn't feel it had led to the creation of a new musical style with the strength they had originally sought."^[16]

Beck then started collaborating with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, who became available following the demise of Cactus but continued touring as Jeff Beck Group in August 1972, to fulfil contractual obligations with his promoter, with a line-up including Bogert, Appice, Max Middleton and vocalist Kim Milford. After six appearances Milford was replaced by Bobby Tench, who was flown in from the UK^[17] for the Arie Crown Theatre Chicago performance and the rest of the tour,^[18] which concluded at the Paramount North West Theatre, Seattle.^[19] After the tour Tench and Middleton left the band and the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice appeared: Appice took on the role of vocalist with Bogert and Beck contributing occasionally.^[19] They were included on the bill for Rock at The Oval in September 1972, still as the "Jeff Beck Group", which marked the start of a tour schedule of UK, the Netherlands and Germany. Another US tour began in October 1972, starting at the Hollywood Sportatorium Florida and concluding on 11 November 1972 at The Warehouse, New Orleans.^[20] In April 1973 the album Beck, Bogert & Appice was released (on Epic Records). While critics acknowledged the band's instrumental prowess the album was not commercially well received except for its cover of Stevie Wonder's hit "Superstition".

On 3 July 1973 Beck joined David Bowie on-stage to perform "The Jean Genie"/"Love Me Do" and "Around and Around". The show was recorded and filmed but none of the released editions included Beck. During October 1973 Beck recorded tracks for Michael Fennelly's^[21] album Lane Changer and attended sessions with Hummingbird, a band derived from The Jeff Beck Group, but did not to contribute to their eponymous first album.^[22]

Early in January 1974 the band played at the Rainbow Theatre, as part of a European tour. The concert was broadcast in full on the US show Rock Around the World in September of the same year. This last recorded work by the band previewed material intended for a second studio album, included on the bootleg At Last Rainbow. The tracks Blues Deluxe and BBA Boogie from this concert were later included on the Jeff Beck compilation Beckology (1991).^[23] Beck, Bogert & Appice dissolved in April 1974 before their second studio album (produced by Jimmy Miller) was finished. Their live album Beck, Bogert & Appice Live in Japan, recorded during their 1973 tour of Japan, was not released until February 1975 by Epic/Sony.

After a few months Beck entered Underhill Studio and met with the group Upp, whom he recruited as backing band for his appearance on the BBC TV programme Guitar Workshop in August 1974. Beck produced and played on their self-titled debut album and their second album This Way Upp, though his contributions to the second album went uncredited. In October Beck began to record instrumentals at AIR Studios with Max Middleton, bassist Phil Chen and drummer Richard Bailey, using George Martin as producer and arranger. Blow by Blow (March 1975) evolved from these sessions and showcased Beck's technical prowess in jazz-rock. The album reached number four in the charts and is Beck's most commercially-successful release. Beck, fastidious about overdubs and often dissatisfied with his solos, often returned to AIR Studios until he was satisfied. A couple of months after the sessions had finished Martin received a telephone call from Beck, who wanted to record a solo section again. Bemused, Martin replied: "I'm sorry, Jeff, but the record is in the shops!"^[6]

Beck performing in Amsterdam; 1979

Beck put together a live band for a US tour, preceded by a small and unannounced gig at The Newlands Tavern in Peckham, London. He toured through April and May 1975, mostly supporting the Mahavishnu Orchestra, retaining Max Middleton on keyboards but with a new rhythm section of bassist Wilbur Bascomb and noted session drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. In a May 1975 show in Cleveland, Ohio (Music Hall), he became frustrated with an early version of a talk box he used on his arrangement of The Beatles' "She's a Woman," and after breaking a string, tossed his legendary Yardbirds-era Stratocaster off the stage. He did the same with the talk box and finished the show playing a Les Paul and without the box. During this tour he performed at Yuya Uchida's "World Rock Festival," playing a total of eight songs with Purdie. In addition he performed a guitar and drum instrumental with Johnny Yoshinaga and, at the end of the festival, joined in a live jam with bassist Felix Pappalardi of Mountain and vocalist Akira "Joe" Yamanaka from the Flower Travellin' Band. Only his set with Purdie was recorded and released.

He returned to the studio and recorded Wired (1976), which paired drummer and composer Narada Michael Walden and keyboardist Jan Hammer. The album used a jazz-rock fusion style which sounded similar to the work of his two collaborators. To promote the album, Beck joined forces with the Jan Hammer Group, playing a show supporting Alvin Lee at The Roundhouse in May 1976, before embarking on a seven-month long world tour. This resulted in the live album Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live (1977).

At this point, Beck was a tax exile and took up residency in the US, remaining there until his return to the UK in the autumn of 1977. In the spring of 1978, he began rehearsing with bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Gerry Brown towards a projected appearance at the Knebworth Festival, but this was cancelled after Brown dropped out. Beck toured Japan for three weeks in November 1978 with an ad-hoc group consisting of Clarke and newcomers Tony Hymas (keyboards) and Simon Phillips (drums) from Jack Bruce's band. Work then began on a new studio album at The Who's Ramport Studios in London and continued sporadically throughout 1979, resulting in There and Back in June 1980. It featured three tracks composed and recorded with Jan Hammer, while five were written with Hymas. Stanley Clarke was replaced by Mo Foster on bass, both on the album and the subsequent tours. Its release was followed by extensive touring in the USA, Japan and the UK.

1980s[link]

In 1981 Beck made a series of historic live appearances with his Yardbirds predecessor Eric Clapton at the Amnesty International-sponsored benefit concerts dubbed The Secret Policeman's Other Ball shows. He appeared with Clapton on "Crossroads", "Further On Up The Road", and his own arrangement of Stevie Wonder's "Cause We've Ended As Lovers". Beck also featured prominently in an all-star band finale performance of "I Shall Be Released" with Clapton, Sting, Phil Collins, Donovan and Bob Geldof. Beck's contributions were seen and heard in the resulting album and film, both of which achieved worldwide success in 1982. Another benefit show, the ARMS Concert for Multiple Sclerosis featured a jam with Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. They performed "Tulsa Time" and "Layla". This is the only time all of the Yardbirds lead guitarists appeared on stage together.^{[citation needed]}

In 1985 Beck released Flash, featurng a variety of vocalists, but most notably former bandmate Rod Stewart on a rendition of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready".

After a four year break, Jeff made a return to instrumental music with the album Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop (1989), the first album to feature Beck as a fingerstyle guitarist, leaving the plectrum playing style. It was only his 3rd album to be released in the 1980s. Much of Beck's sparse and sporadic recording schedule was due in part to a long battle with noise-induced tinnitus.

1990s[link]

Jeff Beck at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney

In the 1990s, Beck had a higher musical output. He is featured on lead guitar on Roger Waters' 1992 concept album Amused to Death, and on Kate Bush's 1993 album The Red Shoes.

He recorded the instrumental soundtrack album Frankie's House (1992), as well as Crazy Legs (1993), a tribute album to 50's rockabilly group Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps and their influential guitarist Cliff Gallup.

Beck rehearsed with Guns N' Roses for their concert in Paris in 1992, but did not play in the actual concert due to ear damage caused by a Matt Sorum cymbal crash, causing Beck to become temporarily deaf.^[24] The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. In Beck's acceptance speech he humorously noted that:

He accompanied Paul Rodgers of Bad Company on the album Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters in 1993. Jeff's next release would not be until 1999, his first foray into guitar based electronica, Who Else! The album also marked Beck's first collaboration with a female musician, Jennifer Batten, in touring, writing, and recording as well as the first time he had worked with another guitarist on his own material since playing in The Yardbirds. Beck continued to work with Batten through the post-release tour of You Had It Coming in 2001.^[26]

2000s[link]

Jeff Beck won his third Grammy Award, this one for 'Best Rock Instrumental Performance' for the track "Dirty Mind" from You Had It Coming (2001).

The song "Plan B," from the 2003 release Jeff, earned Beck his fourth Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and was proof that the new electro-guitar style he used for the two earlier albums would continue to dominate. Jeff Beck was the opening act for B.B. King in the summer of 2003 and appeared at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2004.

Beck with Tal Wilkenfeld on the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival tour

In 2007, he accompanied Kelly Clarkson for her cover of Patty Griffin's "Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)", during the Idol Gives Back episode of American Idol. The performance was recorded live and afterwards was immediately released for sale. In the same year, he appeared once again at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, performing with Vinnie Colaiuta, Jason Rebello, and the then 21-year-old bassist Tal Wilkenfeld.

Beck announced a world tour in early 2009 and remained faithful to the same lineup of musicians as in his tour two years before, playing and recording at Ronnie Scott's in London to a sold out audience. Beck played on the song "Black Cloud" on the 2009 Morrissey album Years of Refusal and later that year, Harvey Goldsmith became Beck's Manager.^[27]

Beck was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 4 April 2009, as a solo artist.^[28] The award was presented by Jimmy Page.^[29] On 4 July 2009, David Gilmour joined Beck onstage at the Albert Hall. Beck and Gilmour traded solos on "Jerusalem" and closed the show with "Hi Ho Silver Lining".

2010s[link]

Beck's latest album, Emotion & Commotion, was released in April 2010. It features a mixture of original songs and covers such as "Over the Rainbow" and "Nessun Dorma". Joss Stone provides some of the guest vocals.^[30] Two tracks from Emotion & Commotion won Grammys in 2011: "Nessun Dorma" won the Best Pop Instrumental Performance and "Hammerhead" won the Best Rock Instrumental Performance".^[31] Beck collaborated on "Imagine" for the 2010 Herbie Hancock album, The Imagine Project along with Seal, P!nk, India.Arie, Konono N°1, Oumou Sangare and others and received a third Grammy in 2011 for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for this track.^[32][33]

Beck's 2010 World Tour band featured Grammy winning musician Narada Michael Walden on drums, Rhonda Smith on bass and Jason Rebello on keyboards. He has also released a live album titled Live and Exclusive from the Grammy Museum on October 25, 2010.

In 2011, Beck received two honorary degrees from British universities. On 18 July 2011, he was honoured with a fellowship from University of the Arts London in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to the field of Music".^[34] He was also presented with an honorary doctorate from University of Sussex by Sanjeev Bhaskar, the university's chancellor for “an outstanding musical career and celebrated the relationship between the university and the Brighton Institute of Modern Music (BIMM)" on 21 July 2011.^[35][36]

Influences[link]

One of the most influential guitarists in the history of rock music,^[4][37][38] Jeff Beck has cited his major influences as Les Paul,^[6] The Shadows, Cliff Gallup, Ravi Shankar, Roy Buchanan,^[39] Chet Atkins, Django Reinhardt, Steve Cropper and Lonnie Mack.^[40] Of John McLaughlin, he said: "he has given us so many different facets of the guitar and introduced thousands of us to world music, by blending Indian music with jazz and classical. I'd say he was the best guitarist alive."^[41]

While Beck was not the first rock guitarist to experiment with electronic distortion, he nonetheless helped to redefine the sound and role of the electric guitar in rock music. Beck's work with The Yardbirds and The Jeff Beck Group's 1968 album Truth were seminal influences on heavy metal music, which emerged in full force in the early 1970s.^[42]

Technique and equipment[link]

Beck stopped regular use of a pick (plectrum) in the 1980s. He produces a wide variety of sounds by using his fingers and the vibrato bar on his signature Fender Stratocaster, and he frequently uses a wah-wah pedal both live and in the studio. As Eric Clapton once said, "With Jeff, it’s all in his hands".^[43] Along with Fender Stratocasters, Beck occasionally plays Fender Telecaster and Gibson Les Paul models as well. His amplifiers are primarily Fender and Marshall. In his earlier days with the Yardbirds, Beck also used a 1954 Fender Esquire guitar (now owned by Seymour W. Duncan, and housed in the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame^[44]) through Vox AC30s. He has also played through a variety of fuzz pedals and echo-units along with this set-up and has used the Pro Co RAT distortion pedal. The Seymour Duncan JB model's name is an acronym for both Jazz & Blues and Jeff Beck, as it was designed in conjunction with the guitarist.

During the ARMS Charity Concerts in 1983 Beck used his battered Fender Esquire along with a 1954 Fender Stratocaster and a Jackson Soloist. On the Crazy Legs (1993) he played a Gretsch Duo Jet, his signature Fender Stratocaster and various other guitars. Recently^[when?] Fender created a Custom Shop Tribute series version of his beat-up Fender Esquire as well as his Artist Signature series Stratocaster.

Personal life[link]

Beck has been married to Sandra Cash since 2005.^[45] Beck describes himself as a vegetarian. He has an interest in classic Ford hot rods, performing much of the work on the exteriors and engines of the cars by himself.^[46]

Discography[link]

See also[link]

• List of rock instrumentals

Bibliography[link]

• Carson, Annette. Jeff Beck: Crazy Fingers. Backbeat books (2002). ISBN 0-87930-632-7
• Horjt, Chris and Hinman, Doug. Jeff's book : A chronology of Jeff Beck's career 1965-1980 : from the Yardbirds to Jazz-Rock. Rock 'n' Roll Research Press, (2000). ISBN 0-9641005-3-3
• Foster, Mo.17 watts?: The Birth of British Rock Guitar. Sanctuary (1997 and 2000). ISBN 978-1-86074-267-5

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jeff Beck

• Official website
• Press conference and master class by Jeff Beck in Moscow 2010
• Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame: Jeff Beck FuseTV
• Jeff Beck at Epic Records
• Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood
• Jeff Beck unofficial website